Thursday, September 27, 2012

Since the Xbox 360's release in 2005 thousands of games have been released. Most 360 games are easy to find and abundantly produced, but a few titles are rare and in some cases quite valuable. Below is a list of the rarest and most expensive Xbox 360 games.

Most Valuable Xbox 360 Games

When the original Dead Space launched is 2008, EA made 1,000 Ultra Limited Edition copies they sold for $149 each. This special edition includes the game itself, special packaging, "Downfall" animated DVD, lithograph, artbook, graphic novel, and Ishimura patch.

The price is much higher than other limited editions because EA made such a small quantity and has never re-printed them. At the current new price of $750, the game has increased in value 400% since it came out 4 years ago.

Fallout 3's received two special editions, the Collector's Edition (see below) and the Survival Edition. The Survial Edition includes everything in the Collector's Edition in addition to a full sized Pip-boy 3000 replica, which is basically a really cool looking digital clock.

The Survival Edition was sold exclusively at Amazon for a retail price of $129.99. Even in used condition this special edition sells for more than double the MSRP.

Tales of Vesperia Special Edition includes the game in a steelBook case and a 10th anniversary soundtrack CD. The soundtrack includes tracks from many of the Tales games released in the past decade.

This special edition has much less included than other limited editions on this list, but still fetches a big premium to the original MSRP. The game originally sold for $69.99 and even in used condition it sells for more than that now.

The Halo 3 Legandary Edition includes a special edition outer box and inner box, three disc set with the game, Collector's Edition disc, and cutscene disc. The limited edition also includes a scaled-down model of the Mark VI helmet.

This is the first game on the list that has actually decreased in price slightly from its initial retail price of $129.99. It is also the one that sold the most units, which explains why prices are not as high. If the helmet had been life sized this would be the ultimate Halloween costume item.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 Prestige Edition has perhaps the coolest special edition pack-in ever - fully functioning night vision goggles. Along with the googles and the game itself, the special edition includes an artbook and special game tin.

The game originally sold for $149.99, which makes it the most expensive game on this list in terms of MSRP. The game sells for about $30 less than its original price so it has decreased in value over time.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance in late 2006 and by mid 2007 several different downloadable packs were available with different characters and achievments. In May 2007 the Gold version was released with all the downloadable content already included.

A Platinum Hits version was released four months later and the Gold version was discontinued. Because the Gold Edition was available for such a short period of time it is available in much smaller quantities than the other two versions.

Aksys's "Really Naughty Limited Edition" for Record of Agarest War is not your usual limited edition. It comes with the usual soundtrack, and special box to go along with the game but it also includes Vira-Lor breast shaped mouse pad and Yearning Ellis pillowcase. All the artwork included in the limited edition is much more provacative than the standard cover art.

The limited edition sold for the same price as the regular edition but was available via preorder only. Based upon recent prices the naughty edition has nearly doubled in price.

After the success of the Halo 3 Legendary Edition, Microsoft decided to do a Legendary Edition for Halo: Reach as well. This version includes an armored container, the game, in-game exclusive content, journal, security badge, embroidered patch, and Noble team statue.

Microsoft overproduced this version though if prices are any indication. The game originally sold for $149.99 but now only sells for a little more than $80 when brand new. That price is still enough to qualify for this list, but it is the largest price decrease from MSRP with an almost 50% drop.

The Final Fantasy XI Ultimate Collection includes the original FF11 game plus all expansions and three add-on scenarios.

The PC version is available as a download on Square Enix's store for $20, which helps hold the price down on the PC version ($5). The Xbox 360 does not have a full download version and now sells for a premium price.

This version was sold at all major retailers and is much more common than the Survival Edition near the top of this list. The only difference between the two is the color of the outer box and the inclusion of Pip-boy 3000 replica in the Survival Edition.

Monday, September 24, 2012

Blockbuster exclusive games are an interesting concept and these limited releases are now sought-after gems in the game collecting community. This article will be taking a closer look at all those hard-to-find Blockbuster exclusive titles for the SNES.
It is nearly impossible to get solid proof that a title was an exclusive. Some of these titles may have been an exclusive for only a short while, then put out for sale at other retailers. This list is the titles are the gaming community generally agrees were Blockbuster exclusive at one point in time.

ClayFighter: Tournament EditionThis SNES only game served largely as a fix to the original ClayFighter. It included all the same characters and fixed a lot of the glitches present in the original. They also changed a lot of the level backgrounds and added more versus modes. Despite how limited this release is, it is incredibly easy to find and cheap as well. A fun game, worth collecting, but usually overlooked.Average Price: $8.25

Eek! The CatDeveloped by Ocean as a rental only game based off of the TV show by the same name, this awful game is a good example of your average licensed game. Sealed copies surface time to time and are worth a fair amount of money. Unsealed copies are often covered in Blockbuster stickers and always sell for cheap.Average Price: $6.99

Mr. NutzAnother Ocean developed rental only title. This game sported great graphics and good control. It was also really strange. It was outshined by other bigger and better mascot platformer games of the era. It was also only 6 levels long and has been ported to several other consoles. Still, the SNES version still fetches a reasonably high price for such an old game.Average Price: $23.77

The Adventures of Kid KleetsThis title falls under the strange grouping of rare but worthless. Many websites rank this title, known as Soccer Kid in other regions, as at least an 8/10 on their rarity scale but it is still undervalued, underappreciated, and collectible.Average Price: $9.99

The Ren & Stimpy Show Fire DogsRental exclusive only, man! That’s what the box art says at least. This game is plagued with awful gameplay, shoddy controls, and overall poor quality. It only one of the several Ren & Stimpy titles for the SNES and it isn’t even the most valuable one, despite it being a rental exclusive.Average Price: $10.00

Final Fight GuyThis game plays identical to Final Fight on the SNES, except that you can no longer play as Cody, only Guy and Haggar. This was a poor attempt to pacify fans of the arcade version, which was horribly butchered in order to fit on the limited space of the SNES cart. The SNES port cut out whole levels and the games third character, Guy the ninja. Another interesting tidbit about this game is that there are confirmed to be two different box arts. There is the “orange” version, pictured above, and a “black” version. It is unconfirmed where the “black” version of the box art came from and it is worth more than the “orange” version.Average Price: $74.99

Hagane: The Final ConflictThis game has seen a recent rise in price unlike anything else I’ve ever seen. Two years ago, you could find a copy of this game for around $50 dollars, now that price has quintupled. A good, fun, and interesting game, there is a reason why it is sought out. Recently, evidence has started to mount undermining the “myth” that it really was a Blockbuster exclusive title. Some store managers have come forward saying that they sold it new in Electronic Boutiques stores. I don’t think we’ll ever conclusively know the truth about this game but for now, we can only sit back and watch the price skyrocket.Average Price: $263.00

Starfox Super WeekendStarfox is a Blockbuster exclusive but was never rented, it was available as part of a competition. An ingame timer stopped the game at a certain point. You would then take a picture of your score and submit it on a card that came with the game. High scores earned you jackets, pins, and other prizes. This interesting little piece of history has recently been enjoying a spike in prices as of late as SNES collecting is on the rise. It also interesting to note that there is a PAL region version of this game under the title Starwing Competition. It is worth less than the NTSC version but is most likely more rare than it.Average Price: $500.00

Donkey Kong Country Competition CartridgeAnother competition cartridge worth a lot of money. After the competition was over, the Blockbuster stores had to ship them back to Nintendo. Not all stores did. The ones that did get shipped back were then sold through mail order through Nintendo Power magazine. This is one of, if not the, most expensive games for the SNES console. Finding it with the green case and insert intact increases the value but buyer beware, reproductions are becoming more and more common.Average Price $1,000

There you have it, a huge list of rare and semi-rare games to go out and collect. Good luck finding the boxes and manuals. Most stores threw them away or they were so beat up from kids picking them up, opening them, and throwing around that they are tattered to pieces. The real challenge in collecting these titles is to find complete copies. Good luck hunting.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

The Vic-20 was a computer system with interchangeable game cartridges. They look like this one below:

While looking up Vic-20 information and games I ran across this ad for the console that I thought was pretty funny. It shows a family all smiling and looking at the screen. The screen appears to be showing a spreadsheet of sorts. The Vic-20 even has the ability to make spreadsheets fun for the whole family. Now that is a good console!

Monday, September 17, 2012

The Sega Genesis competed head-to-head with the Super Nintendo in the 1990's and during this time hundreds of great games were released. A few of these games have become rare collectibles and very expensive in some cases. Below is a list of the rarest and most expensive Sega Genesis games.

Rare & Expensive Sega Genesis Games

Blockbuster Video held a national video game competition at their stores in 1994. Players could compete on Donkey Kong Country Competition (see rare SNES list) or a Genesis game called Blockbuster World Championships II. The cartridge contained NBA Jam and Judge Dredd and gave a combined high score for your performance in both games.

The cartridge was never sold or given away. All Blockbuster stores were supposed to return them after the competition. A few found there way into collector's hands and are now very expensive.

Beggar Prince is a role playing game that was originally released in 1996, but never in USA. In 2006, a company named Super Fighter Team translated the game and commercially released it in the USA. This is the first Sega Genesis game commercially released since 1998.

The developer sold 1,500 copies by the end of 2007. More copies have yet to be released, but if strong demand keeps up there is a good chance it will be re-released again.

The Blockbuster Game Factory is an attempt at downloadable gaming before it was available on all modern consoles. The cartridge contained flash memory chips which could be reprogrammed. Blockbuster stores would download games using dial-up modems and load them onto the cartridge and rent them out. In theory, Blockbuster could have any game at any time.

Customers didn't like waiting a few minutes for their games to be ready to rent and Blockbuster phased out the concept. The remaining cartridges are collectors items.

Bible Adventures is a Christian video game from Wisdom Tree. You play through levels roughly mimicing the stories of Noah's ark, baby Moses, and David and Goliath. The game was originally released on the Nintendo NES and ported to the Genesis four years later.

Bible Adventures was not sold in video game stores, but could only be found at Christian bookstores. Many gamers never knew this game existed when it was originally released. This rarity adds to the demand for the game amoung collectors.

Action 52 is an unlicensed, multiple games on one cartridge game. The cartridge contains 52 games, but all of them are renowned for their low quality and numerous bugs and even fatal crashes. The publisher advertised a prize for a random person who beat level 5 of Ooze. Unfortunately the game crashes at level 2.

Action 52 was released for the NES two years before the Genesis version came out in 1993 at a retail price of $199.

Spiritual Warfare is another Christian video game released by Wisdom Tree. The game is similar to Legend of Zelda in gameplay but you are in the Lord's army and must save heathens using fruits of the spirit.

Like BIble Adventure, Spirtual Warfare was not sold in traditional retail stores but only through Christian bookstores.

Aerobiz Supersonic is a sequel to the original airline business simulator. You start an international airline and compete on different routes to complete an objective depending on the scenario. The game has real world historical events like the fall of Soviet Union and 70's oil crisis.

Business simulations are a niche market so Aerobiz Supersonic didn't sell many copies. The game is fairly deep business simulation and still popular today.

The 1993 version of John Madden Football was simply an update of the '92 version with a few minor updates like more teams, coin tosses, and no-huddle offense. The Championship Edition was released after the standard 93 version with teams from 1966 to 1991, instead of using all 1992 teams.

The Championship Edition was also a rental exclusive. Because it was only sold at rental stores after it was rented, the box and instructions are very hard to find and sell for a big premium.

Master of Monsters is a turn-based strategy game. You move monsters around a board made of hexagonal tiles and try to defeat the opposing player. The game has some RPG elements too like upgrading units and magic.

Master of Monster for Genesis sold well enough to warrant a sequel on the Sega Saturn, but is still relatively hard to find.

Splatterhouse is one of the first games in the horror genre of video games. The game is a side scrolling beat-em up but features more gore and violence than typical games. Each level ends with a battle with a grotesque boss battle.

In the 90's when the Splatterhouse series was released, the images and violence in the game were considered shocking. The game is considered fairly tame by today's standards.

Michael Jackson's Moonwalker is an action game featuring Michael Jackson. You defeat enemies with dance moves. The game was a Sega home console exclusive but was released in arcades as well.

Moonwalker prices shot up to as high as $130 for a few days after Michael Jackson's death in 2009. Prices quickly came back down to the $30-40 range but are still higher than they were prior to Jackson's death.

Friday, September 14, 2012

We just passed 100 million price points in our database. All the games and movies across all the different sources we track during these five years has really added up fast. It's roughly 38 new price points added every minute.
Thanks for helping us reach this milestone and using our site. Hopefully we can reach 1 billion price points someday.....or maybe we will just shoot for 200 million first.

In an auction setting is there such a thing as "free shipping"? Or do buyers bid more for auctions with free shipping thus increasing the price of the item?

For this study we compiled the prices for roughly 100 auctions for Madden 13 on Xbox 360 during the first week of availability. There were 28 auctions with free shipping and 70 auctions that charged for shipping. Below are the results:

The average price for Madden 13 when free shipping is offered it $52.75, while the average game with a shipping charge is $49.35. A statistical test (t-test) shows there is a level of confidence these two averages are different (p-value of 0.000008).

The average shipping charge when it was applied cost $3.38 for a total cost of $52.73. Only two cents less than the game with free shipping, and no statistical difference between these two averages.

Free shipping on eBay does not save a customer any money at all. It is simply perceived as a better value.

A second copy of the game has shown up on eBay with bidding already up to $9,000. What was considered one-of-a-kind two weeks ago is now twice as easy to find.

The developer of the game also said at one point that there were boxes of the game, but he doesn't know where they are. It should be no surprise that a commercially released game had more than one copy made or it would be very hard to make any money on development. But it is a very real possibility that the remaining copies were destroyed or lost forever. Or boxes of them could be found inside someone's backyard shed in brand new condition.

That is the risk with rare game collecting, you aren't guaranteed the item will stay rare. Collectors are confident there were only 26 Gold Nintendo World Championship cartridges but Nintendo never officially said this. They might have made boxes of them and never released them for some reason.

Red Sea Crossing is a good reminder that a game might lose its rarity over time.

The price for the average licensed game for Sega CD has almost doubled during the last two years, going from $8.29 in January 2010 to $15.28 in August 2012. Even though the price increase doesn't look as dramatic on the Sega CD chart, it is a bigger increase than prices for Nintendo NES.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

There are certain common
conceptions about sexism and gender as they relate to gaming.
Influenced by the recent influx of gender and sex-related video game
discussions within the community, I was interested in finding out how
much of these are actually true and how much they affect gamers–
both male and female – as well as the gaming community. For this
reason, I designed a twenty-question survey to find out more.

I am well aware that
sexism isn't just an issue of men versus women, and I wanted my study
to reflect that. My survey was aimed at gamers of all genders in
order to see who sexism affects in the gaming community, who is
perpetuating sexism, and to what extent the things that we think we
already know about sexism in the community are true or false.

This survey was created
online and distributed to various gaming communities online as well
as through social media such as twitter and facebook. The survey
remained open for participation for approximately one week and
garnered 874 responses – almost a third of which were accompanied
by additional comments, examples, and clarifications. I also received
nearly 200 comments on the purpose or topic of the research itself.
Some of these comments were as telling as the hard data, and some are included in the report below.

Is Sexism Prevalent in Gaming Community

Immediately
following the demographic questions, participants were asked “Do
you feel that sexism is prominent in the gaming community?” The
response was overwhelmingly “yes.” 79.3% of all participants
believe that sexism is prominent in the gaming community. 7.1%
responded “no,” and 13.6% of respondents were not sure if sexism
is prominent in the community. A “yes” response was 7% more
likely to come from a female gamer than from a male gamer. Male
gamers were almost twice as likely to respond “no” than were
female gamers – a telling response when one considers how
perspective affects opinion. Men and women who were not sure about
the prominence of sexism in the gaming community showed a difference
in percentage that is within the margin of error.

When
asked if they had ever been the subject of “sex-based taunting,
harassment, or threats while playing video games online,” 35.2% of
participants said yes and 61.3% of participants said no.

Women
were four times more likely than men to have experienced taunting or harassment, with
63.3% of all female participants responding that they had. The
stories that these women told me regarding their experiences are
similar to what one might think of regarding this topic. “Cunt,”
“bitch,” “slut,” and “whore” were common slurs. The
threats were largely of sexual assault. Much of the harassment was
based around asking for or demanding sexual favors or comments that
revolved around the traditional gender role and stereotyped behavior
for women in Western society. Many of the insults were based on the
subject's weight or physical appearance.

15.7%
of men also reported that they had experienced sex-based taunting,
harassment, or threats while playing video games. While this is in
the minority, it is still of concern as sexism. The comments directed
at these gamers, however, are different from those directed at women
in some very telling ways. Most of the men who provided additional
information on their “yes” response to this question experienced
comments that revolved around them not fitting a masculine gender
role. These men were often called “fags” and compared to or told
that they were women and labeled with stereotypically feminine words.

For
those who identified as intersexed, identified with a sex that was
not listed, or did not identify with any sex, the sexual harassment
that was experienced largely related to not fitting into any norm.
Those participants in these demographics had almost all experienced
intentional misgendering from other players.

For
women, the sexism experienced is about being female. For men, it is
about not fitting a standard of masculinity. In short, this sexism is
always about “male” being the normative sex and “not male” or
“not sufficiently male” being reason for insults, shaming, and
bullying. This means that men who fit (or present) a masculine,
normative standard are those who are most unlikely to be the victim
of sexism.

The
responses to the question “Have you ever received an unsolicited
proposition while playing video games online?” shows that this
happens in much the same ratio between men and women as does general
sexism, but that propositioning is slightly less common than sexual
threats, taunting, and harassment. 32.0% of all participants said
that they had experienced an unsolicited proposition while playing
video games. 59.7% of women and 12.2% of men.

The
difference here, as found in the comments and clarifications that I
was sent by some participants, is largely in the tone of the
proposition and the reception therein. Both sexes reported receiving
propositions with the exchange of money, goods, and in-game
assistance as a deal. However, men were more often offered sexual
favors if they would pay for them (“I'll send nudes for gold” was
a provided example.), and women were more often offered payment if
they would perform sexual favors (“Show me your tits and I'll help
you,” quoted one female participant.). In addition to this, more
women described the propositions that they received as “gross,”
“dirty,” “vulgar,” or “inappropriate” than did men. From
the clarifications I received, when men were approached with an offer
of sex they were more likely to accept the offer than women were.

A
further distancing between men and women in terms of experienced
sexism is apparent when reviewing the data that the survey received
in response to the question “Have you ever experienced sex-based
harassment that began while playing a video game and continued
outside of the game?” Only 9.8% of all participants reported that
they had experienced this sort of harassment. However, women were
nearly 7 times more likely to experience this than men were (at 19.5%
for women and 3.0% for men). This suggests that those who harass
women are motivated to pursue the subject of their harassment once
the game is finished in order to continue to harass them. Those who
harass men don't experience this motivation to the same extent, and
so women are more likely to experience sustained sexism than men are.

Similar
numbers were reported in response to the question “Have you ever
felt unsafe because of sex-based harassment while playing a video
game?” 9.6% of all participants answered “yes.” 19.4% of women
and 2.2% of men experienced this. This means that women are nine
times more likely than men to feel unsafe in this situation. A
handful of women commented further on this, and all of them expressed
that their fears were rape or sexual-assault related, which is
unsurprising considering that some studies report that as many as 1
in 4 college-aged women is sexually assaulted. Where rape is a real,
common occurrence for women in the average gaming age group, it is
not surprising that threats of rape made while gaming causes more
concern for women than for men.

Women
were also much more likely to quit playing a game because of
sex-based harassment than were men. 35.8% of women reported having
quit playing temporarily because of sexism, and 9.6% reported that
they quit playing a certain game permanently because of harassment.
The numbers for men in the same areas were 11.7% and 2.6%
respectively – about a third of the percentage for women in each
case.

Another
polarizing question was “Have you ever obscured or lied about your
sex while playing video games to avoid unwanted attention or
harassment?” 67.5% of women said that they had obscured their sex. Only 5.8% of men
said the same. That means that women are nearly 12 times as likely to
feel the need to conceal their sex while playing video games as men
are. Two men sent clarifications to me regarding why they conceal
their sex sometimes when they play video games. Both prefer to play
with female avatars, and both have previously been harassed because
they identify as male but play female characters. Again, they are
being harassed because they don't conform to normative masculinity.

When
asked if they had ever avoided playing on a public server to avoid
being a target of sexism, 50.6% of female respondents and 10.3% of
male respondents said that they had. Beyond this, many women
clarified by saying that they don't play video games online at all in
order to avoid sex-based harassment either that they had previously
experienced playing online or that they thought they might
experience. While women are five times more likely to avoid playing
on a public server to keep away from sexism, there is another
difference between when men and women choose to do this. Many men
sent clarifications about this question to say that they avoid
specific servers that they know to foster a sexist community whereas
many women said that they avoid all public servers and play only in
environments they know that they will be comfortable in.

When
asked “Have you ever been the subject of sex-based comments,
taunting, harassment, or threats in the gaming community while not
playing a video game?” 45.5% of women said that they had – almost
5 times the percentage of men who said the same. Similarly, when
asked if they had ever had their gaming taste, ability, or skill
questioned because of their gender, 77.8% of women said that they had
(compared to 6.4% of men). Those men who said that they had been the
subject of these comments and judgments related that they were often
judged for liking games that were “for girls.” One man said that
he had been called a “faggot” when he said he didn't like playing
violent games. Yet again, the sexism against men is not because they
are men but because they aren't “male enough.”

Occasionally,
women in gaming are labeled as something like “attention whores.”
The woman who plays video games for attention or uses her sex for
special treatment while playing is a common stereotype in the gaming
community. The response to “Have you ever intentionally used your
sex as leverage when asking for favors, goods, or attention while
playing video games?” shows that this stereotype is only true in
the vast minority. 9.9% of female respondents said that they had done
this at least once. What is perhaps more interesting is that when
asked “Have you ever lied about your sex in order to receive
favors, goods, or attention while playing a video game?” 12.9% of
male respondents said that they had.

The
comments and data from these two questions point to an interesting
conclusion: Some male gamers use the stereotype of a female
“attention whore” to their benefit by pretending to be female in
order to garner special benefits. Many of these men even kept images
of women that they found on the internet in order to supply those
gamers who helped them with nude photos and proof that they were
female. In essence, an individual using femaleness to attain special
favors and gifts from others while playing video games is more likely
to be a self-identified male posing as a woman than to actually be
female.

When
they were asked if they had ever participated in sexist behavior and
comments, only 9.4% of participants said “yes,” with 10.6% of men
and 7.3% of women giving this answer. Men were only 3.3% more likely
to exhibit sexism – a number within the margin of error. This means
that men and women are exhibiting sexism at very similar rates.
Comments sent in by these people to clarify their answers also show
that individuals who exhibit sexism do not only do so to people of
the opposite sex. Men are perpetrating sexism against other men, and
women are doing the same to other women.

When
asked if they had ever intervened in a conversation to stop sexist
comments and behavior, 53.2% of participants (54.6% of women and
51.9% of men) said that they had. Both men and women sent in comments
regarding why they had trepidation about defending others from sexism
while gaming. Both were afraid of having the negative attention
turned toward themselves – men often concerned with the label
“White Knight” (which relates to a man who defends a woman in the
hope of sexual favors) and women were concerned with the same sexual
harassment that was being received by the person they might have
defended.

Sexism Study Demographics: Who took the Survey

The survey opened with some general demographic questions. When asked “What sex do you identify as?” 499 (57.1%) of the respondents were male and 356 (40.7%) were female. These numbers – particularly the ratio of men to women in gaming - are similar to those which have been reported by other studies. They support the idea that the majority of the members of the gaming community are male, but perhaps some might be surprised that the number of female members comes even close to that of the male majority.

32.4% of all participants were between the ages of 20 and 23. Only one participant, a male, was under 13, and only one participant, who identified with no sex, was over 51. 77.7% of all participants were between the ages of 16 and 27. The average male participant was between 20 and 23, as was the average female. There was no statistically significant difference in the ages of male and female participants – the distribution across age ranges was roughly the same for both groups.

Participants were asked which genre of video games they play. The most popular genre was “RPG,” which garnered 14.8% of all responses. The least popular genre was “Simulator” with 6.0% of all responses. The difference between the percentage of men playing a particular genre and women playing that same genre was never greater than 3.2 (12.6% of men and 9.4% of women played “Shooters”), which falls within the margin of error for this study. This suggests that men and women have roughly the same taste in video games.

This information is interesting in light of arguments posed in response to other studies. Some of these arguments suggest that the population of women in gaming (41%) is only so high because there is no differentiation between “casual” and “serious” gamers – that people who play only casual games should not be considered gamers and that making the distinction would lower the number of female gamers as reported by such studies. This study shows that this is not the case. In fact, no women who responded to this survey played only casual games. Women were 2.0% more likely to play casual games than were men (again, a number within the margin of error), but these same women also enjoyed other game genres.

Similar data ranges were apparent in response to the question “What devices do you use to play video games?” The most popular device for gaming is the PC, which garnered 24.9% of all responses. The least popular device for gaming is the Mac, with 3.4% of the responses. The difference in the percentage of men and the percentage of women playing video games on a given device were statistically negligible. The largest difference was between men and women playing the Nintendo Wii; women were 1.1% more likely to play this console than men were. While this is a number well within the margin of error, it is the only difference between men and women as far as consoles and devices are concerned that was over 1.0%. The rest of the responses were only different by a fraction of a percent. It is clear that there is no real difference in the gaming devices selected by men and those selected by women.

49.4% of gamers who participated in this survey play video games for a few hours a day. Women were 4.6% more likely to play video games a few hours a week than were men, whereas men were 6.2% more likely to play video games a few hours a day than were women. The percentages of men and women who play video games more than four hours a day were only 0.8% different from one another – with 16% of women and 15.2% of men playing at this frequency. The average male gamer and the average female gamer both play video games for a few hours a week.

Sexism Survey Comments and Community's Reaction

According
to this study, most gamers recognize sexism as a prominent force in
the gaming community. While it is mostly directed at women, some men
experience it as well. Only a minority of gamers say that they've
perpetuated sexism, and a majority say that they've stepped in to
stop it. These numbers are heartening for anyone who, like me, is
concerned about how the gamers, and people in general, treat one
another.

I
myself received some interesting reactions and treatment when I
opened this survey up to the public. For the sake of statistics and
simplification, I counted the comments that I received that were
directed at the purpose of the survey (as opposed to those that were
in direct response to survey questions) and then categorized them as
either: Definitely Positive, Definitely Negative, and Non-Definite.

Encouragingly,
those comments which were distinctly positive outnumbered the
comments which were negative. The majority of these were methods of
solidarity and encouragement – praise directed at myself for
undertaking the project or support for the project itself. Comments
such as “I'm proud of you.” and “You're doing a great thing.”
were common. Perhaps the most encouraging were the handful of
comments – 9, in total – that came from people whose outlooks
were changed because of the survey.

One
individual said that he was surprised about the topic. He hadn't
previously considered that sexism occurred in gaming. After having
taken the survey, he spoke with his wife (who is also a gamer) ,
asking her if she had ever experienced sexism while playing a video
game. After she said that she had, the man became more conscientious
of what he and other players were saying and how they were behaving
while playing games online, and he decided to start speaking out
against sexism when he saw it.

While
these responses were quite encouraging (as I personally like to see a
community aware of its biases and discrimination), there were plenty
of comments to provide a counterbalance to the positivity. I received
34 comments that I would classify as “negative” - just over half
the number of positive responses. These negative responses were
largely comments directed at me personally as opposed to the purpose
of the research, and most of them were vile, sexual, and entirely
profane.

An even
dozen of the negative comments that I received addressed the topic in
a way that showed negative opinion while remaining what I see as
professional in tone. The 22 remaining negative responses were
consisted of or contained personal, profane attacks against myself.
All of these comments came from men, and they all contained gender
and sex-based insults. Eight of these comments featured sexual
content – descriptions of what should be done to me. One of them
was four paragraphs long and particularly vivid. These eight are not
anything that I would deem acceptable to reproduce here. This comment
is fairly representative of those made by these 22 men: “Yoru[sic]
survey is retarded and so are you. There's no sexism in the video
game community, you stupid cunt. All you bitches play cause you like
the attention that nerds give you. You can't get it anywhere else
cause you're fat disgusting whales. You ruin video games. Shut the
fuck up, tits or gtfo, and make me a sandwich. I'd say I hope you get
raped, but you're such a slut you'd like it.”

What
was most surprising, and slightly disheartening, were many of the 87
comments that fit into neither the positive nor negative categories.
A number of these comments did not involve personal opinion on the
subject matter in the study. These were things like “I'd like to
see the results of this.” or “This is an interesting survey.”
Such comments composed approximately a third of the non-definite
responses. The remaining two-thirds, however, might be represented by
this comment: “I really do feel for the people who are
discriminated against when they play video games. I know that a lot
of women get harassed just because they're female. But I don't see
what we can do about it. Is sexism a problem? Yes. Is is bad? Yes.
Does it happen in the community? Yes. But there's no fix for that.
There are always going to be bigots, so what's the point in fighting
it?”

While I
can understand this opinion, to me it represents a sort of
conciliatory perspective. It's a recognition of the problem, but an
unwillingness to stand up against it. The people who made such
comments – both men and women – are those who have either given
up or never tried. In some ways, too, I feel that these individuals
misunderstand the ways in which sexism can be fought and in which
gains can be made for gamers who want to see a community free of
sexism.

I can't argue that eliminating sexist
opinion from every individual in the community is realistic, and it's
not one of the goals that I personally hold when arguing against
sexism. What I do think is achievable, however, is eliminating the
normalization of sexism in the community. When people stand up in
sufficient numbers against those who harass players because of their
sex or gender – when we stop laughing, joining in, or letting it
slide and start handing out bans, saying “That's not okay,” and
refusing to play with bigots – then eventually there is a standard
that even those with sexist leanings will begin to conform to.

Surely
not every bigoted person will be swayed by public opinion enough to
stop expressing their sexist thoughts, but there's going to be a
number of them (how big that number is I can't be sure) who will
consider being judged, scolded, ostracized, or made to look foolish
when they use sexist slurs and insults to be enough of a deterrent to
stop using them in mixed company. When sexism is less expressed, it
becomes less normalized for those entering the community as well.
When new gamers see that calling a woman a cunt or taunting a man for
being beaten by a woman is frowned upon, they are more likely to
learn not to do it. It's a change that will take time, but it's one
that I and others believe is worth working toward.